


What's In A Name?

by Writers_Muse



Series: Sidekick AU [3]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe - Sidekick, Chat Noir Being Chat Noir, Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng - Freeform, F/M, First Meetings, Ladybug doesn't have a miraculous, Ladybug is a sidekick, Marichat, Marichat | Adrien Agreste as Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Marinette isn't Ladybug yet, One-Shot, Sidekick!AU, pre-sidekick AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-17 01:27:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21257828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Writers_Muse/pseuds/Writers_Muse
Summary: Marinette is walking home one night, when Chat Noir comes to her rescue.Typical Marichat scene, but with the idea of being pre-Sidekick!Ladybug.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Series: Sidekick AU [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1280588
Comments: 7
Kudos: 154





	What's In A Name?

**Author's Note:**

> An addition to my Sidekick!Ladybug AU! <3 ^_^  
I know I haven't worked on this AU in many months, but I wanted to add a short, standalone fic that is more of a pre-partnership story about one of the times when Chat has saved Marinette.
> 
> unedited, unbeta-d

Walking around Paris after dark was never something Marinette feared, but she usually avoided it all the same.

As long as she could remember, she had been attending martial arts training. In fact, her speed, accuracy, and agility had baffled her masters for years. To put it simply, there were very few people alive who could rival her skill, and that had been the case for several years. As such, walking through the streets at night was not exactly a hazard for her, being more than capable of defending herself, but never wished to fall into such a situation nonetheless.

So, it was a bit of an anomaly when Marinette found herself taking a shortcut through an alleyway on her way home. Her parents were expecting a delivery of baking chocolate, but it had almost been delivered to the wrong address, then returned to the courier facility, and they needed it for a special order that was due to be completed the next day. After a few phone calls, her mother discovered this, and the bakery being full of late-rush customers before closing, she asked Marinette to pick it up in their place.

It wasn’t that far of a walk, maybe ten or so blocks, but there was a long wait, and it took some searching before the person behind the counter discovered their package still on the delivery vehicle. By the time she had the troublesome parcel in hand, the sun had already fallen below the horizon, and the last streaks of pink were disappearing from the sky, chased away by dark night clouds.

It wasn’t quite fall yet, but the breeze was cool nonetheless. Marinette hugged the box in her arms tightly against her body and hunched up her shoulders. Whereas the day had been pleasantly warm, she now felt the briskness of the night, and wished she had had the foresight to bring a sweater. Shadows grew in the short distance she travelled, and she increased her pace, jogging across one relatively empty street to the opposite side.

Cobblestone sidewalk feld oddly rounded under the thin soles of her shoes. Somewhere down an alley, a cat yeowled angrily, followed by someone’s mischievous laughter. As she hurried a bit further down, she decided to cut her way behind a couple of blocks to save time, and ducked into an alley.

It was surprising somehow just how much of a difference it made in the amount of light. Though there was a faint dusk to the streets, here in the narrow space between two buildings, it was practically as dark as the night sky during a full moon. A lamp with an electrical short flickered close to the entrance, but the rest of the passage was blackness, ending in a small tunnel of something a bit brighter toward the end.

Marinette huffed out a breath and tensed her muscles for a fraction of a second, ready to jog her way through. But before she could make it further than a half a step, she felt something firm grab onto her arm. She stopped in place, straightening the rest of the way, but not condescending to turn her head and look at her detainer. 

The malicious sound of a leering laugh reached her ears, but still she did nothing, listening intently to every crack of gravel, every heavy breath of this so far faceless person, calculating and planning at the speed of lightning.

The clammy fingers wrapped around her arm slithered upward, but she purposely refrained from reacting. She strongly suspected he was anticipating her flight, and decided it would be best to wait for a moment where she could catch him off-guard and hopefully avoid any more altercation than necessary.

Something hard poked sharply into her back.

“Don’t move,” a man’s voiced warned quietly, close to her ear. “Don’t even scream. I don’t want to hurt you.”

Resisting the urge to huff in irritation, Marinette bit the inside of her cheek.

“What do you want?” The more she could get him talking, the better. “I don’t have more than a few euros on me, anyway. And I didn’t bring my cell phone with me, so other than that, I don’t really have anything else to give you, but you’re welcome to them. Just let me hand them over, and you can be on your way.”

Her back smarted with increased pressure.

“What’s that you’re carrying?” he sneered.

“It’s just baking chocolate,” Marinette replied. “If you want, I can open it and show you. It’s not really worth anything, and it doesn’t taste very good on it’s own.”

She managed to keep a steady voice, though her heart was racing slightly as her body waited for a command. Still, she remained stationary.

“I think you can do better than that,” the man said, suddenly pressing her forward toward the wall, causing her to drop the box in her hands. Her cheek hit harshly against the brick, but she barely noticed. Then there were hands on her shoulders, on her waist, and still that thing pushing harshly into her lower back.

Seeing there was no other way out of this, Marinette exhaled roughly, bracing her hands against the wall, and prepared to headbutt the man behind her, who was quite close. If she was lucky, a quick kick to his head once she was free would incapacitate him long enough for her to escape.

But before she moved, there was a sudden grunt and a loud thud, and the space behind her switched from warm and uncomfortable to cool and exposed to the air. She whirled around, the sounds of some sort of impact echoing throughout the alley, accompanied by a few grunts of pain.

When she had fully turned, she was met with the sight of a man, crumpled and immobile on the ground, and a blond-headed male, dressed in a black leather mask, cat ears, and a tight bodysuit was standing above him, legs parted in a fighting stance. A silver baton rested in one tense hand. She watched, amazed, while he, deciding the assailant wasn’t getting up anytime soon, straightened and looked up, tucking his weapon behind his back. When his glowing green eyes met hers, she took a subconscious step back in surprise.

“Are you ok?”

He didn’t seem to have a concept of personal space and he quickly closed in, touching her chin and turning her face to get a look at the slight scratch on her cheek. She stood there, baffled, as he raised both of her arms independently and check her for any other signs of injury. Finally satisfied she was ok, he raised his eyes again, but didn’t drop her hands. The smooth leather-like material of his gloves felt cold against her skin.

“You’re that Chat Noir, aren’t you? The new superhero who’s been saving Paris?”

She didn’t intend to say it with awe, but such it came out. It was dark in the alley, and but a part of his face was illuminated by the flickering lamp, so she caught it as his pale features colored a little. Embarrassed herself by her reaction, she quickly released his hands and looked away, causing him to back up at least to a more socially respectable distance. 

Marinette cleared her throat then, chancing a look up, and found the cat-themed hero grinning cheekily at her.

“Anything for a damsel in distress,” he said opulently, bowing and flourishing his hand in the air like a chivalrous knight.

She snorted, crossing her arms over her chest. How did she think for a moment he was cute?

When he rose up again, he was carrying the box she had dropped and proffering it to her. The whites of his teeth gleamed even in the dimness of the alley.

“Just think of me as your knight in shining black leather. I’m only sorry I don’t have a rose for the lovely lady as well.”

The girl narrowed her eyes as she accepted the package, then stepped forward to proceed on her way.

“I can take care of myself, thank you very much,” she said as she went. “I appreciate your help, but the truth is, even if you hadn’t come along, I would have been just fine.”

“Oh, is that so?”

She quickly whipped her head to the side, realizing that he had actually followed and was walking close behind her.

“Yes, it is,” she told him earnestly, then faced forward again. “So, as you can see, I don’t need a knight, and besides, I’m not interested. I already have someone I like.”

Chat Noir snorted at her side, and she looked his way.

“Don’t flatter yourself on my account, my lady,” he tittered, leaning in a bit closer until his chin was nearly on her shoulder and whispered, “You’re not my type, anyway.”

Marinette scoffed, then colored. Chat guffawed and began spinning his baton nonchalantly in hand.

She remained speechless for a moment, then finally ventured to ask (with just a hint of annoyance in her voice), “are you going to follow me the rest of the night? If I’m not looking for a knight, then I definitely don’t want a stalker either.”

The end of the alley was drawing nearer, and with it, more light and the bustle of people.

The blond boy next to her just kept smiling and twirling his baton in hand, but didn’t look her way.

“Nah, just until I know you’re safe. Then, I’ll be out of your hair.”

She didn’t want to be obvious, so she shifted her eyes just enough to check if he was facing her direction. Alas, he was not, so she looked toward the street at the end of the alley again and kept walking, silent. After a few steps, she realized there was no longer the thud of boots in step beside her. Right before the mouth of the alley, Marinette stopped and turned, expression curious. Chat watched her, head tilted, eyes green and piercing.

“I guess this is where we part ways,” he said. His baton was still in his hand, which was hanging loosely at his side. The quiet buzz of a multitude of conversations overlapping each other hummed in the background.

She hesitated, now the moment coming to it, not sure what to say, but not wanting to leave without saying something. She felt the urge to chew on a thumbnail, but sated the feeling with her lower lip instead. He took a couple slow steps closer, reaching up and tugging on her chin until her lip was released from the assault of her teeth. She studied his features closely, realizing he looked seventeen or eighteen years old--just about her own age.

“You can’t be much older than me,” she wondered aloud. HIs cheeks pinked a little. She cleared her throat, slightly embarrassed. “Uh, thank you, really, for helping me and walking me to safety.”

His unreadable expression cracked into a soft smile.

“Don’t go walking down any dark alleys anymore. Or I might actually have to become your part-time knight.”

Marinette exhaled a laugh and shook her head.

“You better watch what you say. I may end up saving you someday. Wouldn’t want you to end up eating your own words.”

A few seconds of silence passed between then, and she shifted back and forth on her feet. Then, not knowing what else to say, she started to turn.

“Well, goodbye, then.”

But a hand, cool and soft this time, touched her elbow, stopping her.

“What’s your name?” the black-clad hero asked.

Surprised, it took her a moment to school her features. When she did, a mischievous look played across her features. She reached up with one hand, extending out her finger and booping him lightly on the nose.

“Maybe I’ll tell you if we meet again.”

Then she turned and exited the alley, walking the last two or so blocks toward home.

When she reached the entry door, feeling a gaze on her back, she turned around, only to catch what looked like a shadow disappearing up in the rooftops across the street. Marinette turned the handle, a small smile on her face, and walked through the door, wondering how she might be able to see him again.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, and please let me know what you think!
> 
> <3 Muse


End file.
